Methods, smart cards, and systems for providing portable computer, VoIP, and application services

ABSTRACT

A smart card is used with a network based system to providing portable telecommunication and computing services. In an exemplary embodiment the smart card holds a user authentication code and user telephony account information. The smart card transfers the user authentication code and the account information to one of a plurality of geographically dispersed card readers which are each connected to a local telephony device. When the smart card is plugged into a first card reader, telephone calls directed to the smart card user&#39;s follow-me telephone number are received at a first local telephony device. When the smart card is plugged into a second smart card reader, telephone calls directed to the follow-me telephone number are received at a second telephony local device. Hence the user is enabled to receive and place calls using any of the geographically dispersed telephony devices as though they were his/her own personal landline or cellular telephone supplied by his/her telephony services provider.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to mobile computing and to networkbased telecommunication services. More particularly, the inventionrelates to methods and systems for providing computer andtelecommunication services users with portable services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A certain class of telecommunication services is known as “follow-me”services. A follow-me telephone number, for example, allows a user toroam to different locations and to still receive incoming phone callsdirected to the follow-me telephone number.

An example of a follow-me service is the one provided by Vonage, Inc.(see vonage.com). Vonage, Inc. supplies users with voice-over-InternetProtocol (VoIP) telephony services. A user can select one or moretelephone numbers (Vonage™ numbers) in one or more local area codes toreceive telephone calls. All telephone calls to the one or more localnumbers get forwarded to the user via the Internet to a small VoIP(voice-over-Internet protocol) gateway that sits on the user's desktop.If the user travels to a different location, takes his/her VoIP gatewaywith him/her, and plugs the VoIP gateway via an Ethernet cable into abroadband Internet connection at the new location, the user can receivetelephone calls directed to any of his/her Vonage™ numbers at atelephone connected to the VoIP gateway.

The above technology would allow, for example, a user residing in CostaRica to receive telephone calls that were directed to a Miami (305)telephone number (e.g., a Vonage™ number using a Miami based point ofpresence). Now if the user were to travel to Spain and carry his/herequipment along, after re-installation of the Vonage™ desktop VoIPgateway, the user would then be able to receive telephone calls directedto the same Miami telephone number, but this time, the calls would berouted across the Internet to Spain instead of Costa Rica.

While this service is useful and beneficial, it has drawbacks. First ofall, it is limited to VoIP connections which may be unreliable in termsof quality. Also, the user is required to carry a desktop VoIP gateway(sometimes called an “adapter”) to the new location, find a broadbandInternet connection, and plug the desktop VoIP gateway into it, e.g.,via an Ethernet cable. In practice, due to differences in local systemand home or office router configurations and/or the type of broadbandInternet connection (e.g., DSL vs. cable modem), and whether a localrouter is even available, the re-installation can be non-trivial and mayrequire calls to technical service to complete. In general, un-pluggingand re-plugging can be more complicated than desired due to suchdifferences in local network configurations. Moreover, the user isrequired to carry the desktop VoIP gateway and this can be cumbersomeand puts the gateway at risk of loss, theft, or damage during travel.

Similar re-installation problems occur for systems where a telephonedevice and the VoIP desktop gateway are built into a single handset.Electrically, this is effectively the same type of system; while it isslightly more portable, the same re-installation problems tend to occurwhen plugged into different local networks having different localnetwork configurations.

What is needed is a more portable solution that allows a user to movefrom location to location without loss of access to a personalized setof data, application, and/or telecommunications services, to accept ordivert incoming calls, and/or to make outgoing calls using atelecommunication services account without the need to carry a desktopVoIP gateway or VoIP handset from one location to another. It would alsobe desirable to have a solution that were general enough to work withboth VoIP based telecommunication services and also standard landlineand/or cellular telecommunication services, as well as network-based(e.g., Internet-based) data and/or application services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one of its aspects, the present invention overcomes theaforementioned drawbacks and shortcomings of presently available systemsby introducing a novel technique for providing portable, “follow-me”telecommunication services.

In one aspect of the present invention, a smart card is used tofacilitate mobile access to a personalized set of data, application,and/or telecommunications services. Smart cards, as is well-known in theart, preferably include a memory, a processor, and a set of softwareinterfaces that allow one or more application programs to execute on thesmart card. The smart card, once plugged into or wirelessly coupled to asmart card reader, has the ability of communicating with a remote and/orlocal computer across the smart card interface.

In other embodiments of the present invention, rather than a smart card,a read-only memory card that functions primarily as a data storagemedium can be used in the practice of the invention, such as a card thatstores data in a magnetic stripe and/or ROM. Other forms of memory cardsthat both store data and can be written with new information from a cardreader can also be advantageously employed. More generally, the presentinvention can be carried out by using any form or type of portablestorage medium, such as an optical disc (e.g., a CD or DVD), a compactmemory card (of any format), a memory stick, or any other type ofportable storage medium that has the capability of storing theuser-specific data that will facilitate the implementation of thepresent invention as described hereinafter. Presently, there also existmany varieties of Universal or Multimedia Card Readers that could besuitably employed in the practice of the present invention.

In preferred embodiments of the present invention, a smart card having aprocessor, memory, and a communication interface protocol is used. Themore advanced and secure smart cards tend to include on-board RAM, ROMand/or EEPROM memory, a processor, and a standards-compliant (e.g., ISO7816-complaint) interface protocol for enabling bidirectionalcommunication with a smart card reader.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the smartcard takes the place of one or more aspects, features, and/or functionsof the desktop VoIP gateway as discussed in the background section and,optionally, also provides other capabilities. For example, a user couldcarry the smart card in his/her wallet, purse, or briefcase from CostaRica to Spain. Upon arriving in Spain, the user would insert the smartcard into a smart card reader that is coupled to a telecommunicationsnetwork such as the Internet or a PSTN (public switched telephonenetwork). For example, once the card was inserted, incoming calls to theMiami Vonage™ number would ring in Spain, i.e., they would be forwardedto a local telephony device coupled to the smart card reader. That is,the Miami Vonage™ number is actually a form of “follow-me number,” butrequires the user to de-install and re-install his/her desktop VoIPgateway in a new local network environment (e.g., in Costa Rica thegateway is connected via a Cable Modem, and in Spain it is connected toan office Ethernet.).

With this embodiment of the present invention, the call could beforwarded via the Internet or via the PSTN. Also, when the user makes anoutbound telephone call from a telephone coupled to the smart cardreader, the outbound telephone call would be charged to the user'stelecommunication services account. When the user pulls the smart cardout of the card reader or otherwise logs off, the service at the newlocation (e.g., Spain) would be discontinued. Therefore, the inventionallows a user to roam from location to location and to have the fullcapability of a follow-me telephone number without the need to set upand activate call forwarding, use credit card calling, or to de-installand re-install VoIP hardware into different types of local networkenvironments.

In another of its aspects, the present invention encompasses a methodand system for providing portable telecommunication services. In oneembodiment, this system includes one or more telecommunication serversthat manage a plurality of subscriber telecommunication service accountsassociated with a plurality of users. The telecommunication serviceaccounts include a particular telecommunication service accountassociated with a particular user who is assigned a particular telephonenumber to receive incoming telephone calls. Also included in the systemof this embodiment a plurality of smart cards. Each smart card isassociated with a corresponding user, and each smart card includes astorage medium that preferably holds an application program that isconfigured to provide a set of stored information corresponding to anassociated telecommunication service account. The plurality of smartcards includes a particular smart card configured to provide informationcorresponding to the particular telecommunication service accountassociated with the particular user.

The system of this embodiment also incorporates a plurality of smartcard reader devices, each being coupled to a local telephony device thatis operative to receive incoming telephone calls and/or to placeoutgoing telephone calls. The plurality of smart card reader devicesincludes a first smart card reader device coupled to a first telephonydevice and a second smart card reader coupled to a second telephonydevice. In a preferred mode of operation, when the particular smart cardis plugged into the first smart card reader, telephone calls directed tothe particular telephone number are received at the first telephonydevice, and when the particular smart card is plugged into the secondsmart card reader, telephone calls directed to the particular telephonenumber are received at the second telephony device.

The present invention also encompasses, in another embodiment, a similarsystem in which the telecommunication service account is replaced by adata and/or applications services (“D/AS”) service account and theability to receive telephone calls is replaced or augmented by theability to receive push content. In accordance with this embodiment, theparticular user can insert his/her particular smart card in first andsecond smart card readers associated with first and second computers,and receive pushed content at either computer depending on which cardreader the particular smart card is inserted. This mechanism affords theuser with true portability of data and/or applications services.Moreover, these data and/or applications services can be customized orpersonalized for/by each particular user, so that the user's access toand utilization of these services can be perceived as being seamless anduninterrupted, regardless of the location of the user.

In another embodiment of the present invention, which can be used withany one or more of the aforementioned embodiments, when the particularuser's smart card is inserted into the first card reader, a userinterface such as a GUI (graphical user interface) is presented on afirst computerized device such as a computer or a smart telephone. TheGUI can be customized or personalized for/by the particular user (muchlike a personal Web portal can be tailored to a particular user). Whenthe smart card is inserted into the second smart card reader, thecustomized user interface is presented on the second computerizeddevice. The customized GUI may include a set of application programsinstalled by the user together with user preferences and/or settings forone or more of the application programs and or/the desktop levelinterface. The device into which the smart card is placed may be loadedwith the application programs either from the smart card and/or someother portable storage media, or the device may act as a thin client forrunning remote applications that either reside on the smart card or on aremote application server located across a communications network. Insome cases, the connection to the application server may involve asecure virtual private network connection, and in some cases theapplication server may act as a hub in a virtual LAN (VLAN) so that thedevice into which the smart card is plugged may appear to becommunicatively connected into a LAN to which is communicativelyconnected other user devices capable of receiving smart cards carried byother network users.

In addition to the above methods and systems, the present inventionfurther encompasses many variations and features discussed in furtherdetail hereinbelow, as well as various separate aspects, features,components, and subsystems thereof, including particular embodiments ofthe smart card itself, various embodiments of the methods implemented onthe smart card, various embodiments of the smart card readers and theirattached devices when configured to operate in the above systems,various embodiments of network servers, and various embodiments of D/ASand/or telecommunication networks that employ the system-level conceptsdescribed herein, as well as various methods for implementing theprotocols and services of the aforementioned systems, subsystems, and/orcomponents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The various novel features of the present invention are illustrated inthe figures listed below and described in the detailed description whichfollows.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for providing portablecomputerized and telecommunication services.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representing an embodiment of user device thatsupports potable computing and telecommunications in accordance withaspects of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of network serverused to implement portable computerized and telecommunications servicesin accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a system level method as well asmany individual sub-methods carried out by the various system componentsin order to implement portable computing and telecommunication servicesin accordance with aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network data and/or applications services(D/AS) and/or telecommunication system 100 embodying aspects andfeatures of an embodiment of the present invention. It should be notedthat the system 100 is general in nature and shows a relativelyfull-featured version of the system. Various components and connectionsmay be omitted to produce different particular embodiments of thesystem. For example, the user device 129 and/or the application server135 may or may not be present in a particular embodiment, and thenetwork server 130 may only be coupled to the Internet in someembodiments. Hence it is to be understood that components andconnections of the system may be omitted to arrive at specificembodiments that do not embody all the aspects of the present invention.

The system 100 preferably includes a PSTN 105. The PSTN 105 may includethe standard PSTN (public switched telephone network), a cellularcommunications network, a wireless network such as GPRS (generalizedpacket radio service), WAP (wireless application protocol) networks, orother types of networks such as private circuit switched networkscontrolled by PBXs. In a typical embodiment, the PSTN 105 provideswireline or wireless telecommunication services such as dialed telephonecalls. In this application, the PSTN may include the standard PSTN, acellular network, a private circuit switched network, a local PBX-drivencircuit switched network, or any combination or interconnection thereof.The PSTN 105 may also in some cases include other data services likeSMS, MMS, WAP, pager services, and the like.

The system 100 also preferably includes a packet network 110. The packetnetwork 110 is preferably the Internet, but may also be an intranet, aLAN, or a wireless data network such as a GPRS (generalized packet radioservice) network, a WAP (wireless application protocol) based network, aproprietary or non-proprietary wide area network (WAN) or metropolitanarea network (MAN), or any other bearer service that can carryapplication layer data. Typically the packet network 110 includes anetwork layer and a transport layer over which application layer data isrouted. Often, the packet network 110 uses an Internet protocol, and inmany embodiments the packet network 110 comprises the Internet andattached networks like mobile IP networks, GPRS, WAP, 3GPP data, etc.

A collection of POP (point of presence) devices POP #1, . . . POP #N arealso preferably included. The POP devices can in some instances be builtinto a class 5 switch, or may be coupled thereto. In some embodiments,the POP devices POP #1, . . . POP #N are coupled to the PSTN 105 via DID(direct inward dial) telephone lines. In some embodiments, the POPdevices POP #1, . . . POP #N act as VoIP (voice-over-Internet Protocol)gateways and convert PSTN voice signals to and from packet data traffic.The POP devices are preferably located in different geographical regionsand incoming calls to different POPs use different area codes on thePSTN. For example, if POP #1 is located in Miami, then incomingtelephone calls to POP #1 will use a Miami area code (305) while if POP#N is located in the Northern Virginia portion of the Washington D.C.metropolitan area, incoming calls to POP #N will use a (703) area code.

Using the example of the Vonage™ network, each POP would supply users ofthe system with local phone numbers in the area code corresponding tothat POP. In the present invention, each POP may be a VoIP gateway as inthe Vonage™ system, but in other embodiments, may be considered as aPSTN 105 call redirection agent. That is, in some embodiments calls canbe redirected through the PSTN 105 as opposed to being routed throughthe Internet 110, although both types of embodiments are contemplated bythe present invention.

In some systems, different POP devices may be supplied by differenttelecommunication services companies. In such cases, in accordance withan aspect of the present invention, a POP device controlled by a firsttelecommunication services company can register with a portable dataand/or application services (D/AS) company and/or with anothertelecommunication services company to allow calls to be routed acrossthe Internet instead of having to make multiple trips back to the PSTN,saving costs, as is discussed in further detail below.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a set of user devices125, 126, 127, 128, and 129 are utilized. As shown, devices 125 and 126are coupled to the packet network 110, devices 127 and 128 are coupledto the PSTN 105, and device 129 is coupled to both the PSTN 105 and thepacket network 110. In some embodiments of the invention, for example,the devices 127, 128, 129 may be absent, or the devices 125, 126 may beabsent, or the device 129 may be absent. The user devices 125-129 andtheir operation are discussed in further detail in connection with FIG.2.

Each of the user devices 125, 126, 127, 128 and 129 include a respectivecard reader CR into which can be plugged a particular smart card 120drawn from a collection of user smart cards. The smart card 120 maycontain user GUI customization preferences for a particular user whoowns the smart card 120, a list of or a set of application programs usedby the particular user, a desktop configuration and set of usercustomizations and preferences, specific user device configurationparameters, special device drivers for specialized devices used by theuser, and/or links to load such drivers from the Internet, and one ormore addresses associated with the user. The one or more addressesassociated with the user may include, for example, an application layeraddress associated with the user, a user email address, an address toreceive push content, and/or a follow-me telephone number.

Smart card 120 also preferably holds a set of user filter data that isused to configure a telephony filter that allows incoming calls to beselectively allowed to ring through or to be blocked, forwarded toanother phone number, or converted to e-mail and/or diverted to voicemail. For example, the filtering criteria or parameters can be chosenfrom a menu of preprogrammed selections or can be user-programmable, andthe filtering can be implemented using any filtering scheme orcombination of filtering schemes known in the art. For example, whentraveling on a business trip a user can choose filter settings thatallow forwarding of only urgent calls from particular people based uponthe caller-identification data contained in incoming (forwarded) calls,and diverts all other incoming calls to voice mail. During the businesstrip, for example after an important business meeting is completed, theuser can change the filter settings to allow forwarding of all callsfrom a larger set of people (or all people). Further, the user couldchoose different filter settings for different preprogrammed timeintervals. For example, the user could choose a first set of filtersettings for business hours, and a second set of filter settings fornon-business hours.

Similarly, in mobile computing applications, the smart card 120 may beprogrammed with user filter parameters to be applied to pushed messagessuch as WAP protocol push messages, based upon the source (e.g., theaddress/identity of the sender) and/or content, title, type and/orsubject matter and/or priority indication of the messages, e.g., usingfilter-in and/or filter-out keyword-based filters, anti-spam filters,source filters, and the like. In general, user-selectable filters areused to govern what type of pushed content is allowed to be forwarded tothe user, with these filters preferably being programmable via a GUI orother user interface means. User-selectable message and content filtersrepresent a particular type of user preference settings. Filters aregenerally applied to incoming telephone calls and pushed messages orcontent of all types, although different filters, filtering schemes,and/or filter settings, parameters, and criteria can be employed fordifferent types of communications, e.g., SMS, MMS, IM, email, voice,push content, etc. For a review of push content filtering technologies,reference is made to U.S. Published Patent Application No. 20020160805,assigned to Nokia Corporation, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

The smart card 120 preferably includes a memory (such as RAM, ROM, flashmemory, EPROM and/or EEPROM), a processor (such as a microprocessor or amicrocontroller), and a smart card interface used to transferinformation via the smart card reader CR. The term smart card has beenused to describe a class of credit-card-sized devices with varyingcapabilities: stored-value cards, contactless cards, and integratedcircuit cards (ICCs). All of these cards differ in functionality fromeach other and from the more familiar magnetic stripe cards used bystandard credit, debit, and ATM cards. It is the ICCs that are of mostinterest to the computer industry because these types of smart cards areable to perform more sophisticated operations, including signing(digital signatures) and cryptographic key exchange. However, it shouldbe clearly understood that the present invention, in its broadestaspects, is not restricted to the use of smart cards, much less specifictypes of smart cards. Nevertheless, in many embodiments of the presentinvention, ICC-type smart cards are preferably employed.

In alternative embodiments of the present invention, rather than a smartcard, a read-only memory card that functions primarily as a data storagemedium can be used in the practice of the invention, such as a mediacard that stores data in a magnetic stripe and/or ROM. Other forms ofmemory or media cards that both store data and can be written with newinformation from a card reader can also be advantageously employed. Moregenerally, the smart card 120 of the present invention can bealternatively embodied using any form or type of portable storagemedium, such as a computerized user handheld device like a wirelesslycoupled PDA or cell phone, an optical disc (e.g., a CD or DVD), magneticmedia, holographic memory, magneto-optic media, a compact memory card(of any format), a memory stick, or any other type of portable storagemedium (e.g., which connects via USB or wireless) that has thecapability of storing the user-specific data that will facilitate theimplementation of the present invention as described hereinafter.Presently, there exist many varieties of Universal or Multimedia CardReaders that could be suitably employed in the practice of the presentinvention. IN such alternative embodiments, the card reader CR is adevice that can communicate with the appropriate embodiment of the smartcard 120, either by direct wired coupling, wireless coupling, opticalcoupling, etc.

In the presently preferred embodiments, smart cards are used rather thandumb media cards. The smart card 120 communicates via a smart cardinterface with the smart card reader CR using a communication protocolthat allows the smart card 120 to be read from and written to via thesmart card reader CR. Note that the term “smart card reader” (or, moregenerally, “card reader”) is used herein to refer to a device thattypically has the capability of both reading data from and writing datato the smart card (or, more generally, other media), and thus, can beproperly thought of as a card reader/writer. In general, a smart cardinterface consists of a predefined set of services, the protocolsnecessary to invoke the services, and any assumptions regarding thecontext of the services. Notably, Microsoft's Windows Operating System(OS) (Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 and all subsequentversions, including XP) is smart card-enabled. In this connection,Microsoft has issued PC/SC (Personal Computer/Smart Card) specifications(such as the PC/SC Version 1.0 Specification, and draft Version 2.0Specification) that all Windows-compliant computers must adhere to.Microsoft has published a white paper which states that “[s]mart cardsare a key component of the public-key infrastructure that Microsoft isintegrating into the Windows platform because smart cards enhancesoftware-only solutions, such as client authentication, logon, andsecure e-mail. Smart cards are essentially a point of convergence forpublic-key certificates and associated keys because they:

-   -   provide tamper-resistant storage for protecting private keys and        other forms of personal information.    -   isolate security-critical computations, involving        authentication, digital signatures, and key exchange from other        parts of the system that do not have a need to know.    -   enable portability of credentials and other private information        between computers at work, at home, or on the road.

The smart card will become an integral part of the Windows platformbecause smart cards provide new and desirable features as revolutionaryto the computer industry as the introduction of the mouse or CD.”(www.microsoft.com/windows2000/docs/SmartCard.doc).

The PC/SC specifications are based on the ISO 7816 standards and arecompatible with both the EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and VISA) and GSM(Global System for Mobile Communications) specifications.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the smart cardreader CR is plugged into a USB port of a target device (such as a hostcomputer). In this embodiment, the smart card reader is preferablycompliant with the USB Chip/Smart Card Interface Devices (CCID)Specification (revision 1.0 or later) to enable the smart card reader toplug-and-play with any target device having USB/CCID Class driversinstalled. Further, smart card readers can be integrated or built-into alaptop, desktop, or handheld computer, or, more generally, into anycomputerized device, e.g., a network (e.g., Internet, LAN, or WAN)access terminal or a VoIP desktop gateway unit (“VoIP box”).

In embodiments in which the host or target device is equipped with anintegrated smart card reader, the operating system and/or applicationsrunning on the host computer can access data and/or applicationscontained on the smart card in a manner that is seamless and transparentto the user. For example, after the user inserts the smart card, astart-up or session initiation application residing on the smart card,after appropriate protocol handshaking with the host computer operatingsystem, could be automatically launched, after which a customized orpersonalized GUI could be automatically generated to enable the user to,for example, initiate a registration or log-in procedure with a remoteserver and/or otherwise instantiate functions and procedures encompassedby various aspects of the present invention.

For a good background discussion of smart card technology, and adetailed disclosure of particular implementations of smart cards andsystems employing the same, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No.6,213,392, issued to Zuppichich, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,256,690;6,338,435; 6,390,374; and, 6,480,935, all issued to Todd Carper, thedisclosures of all of which patents are incorporated herein byreference. Typically, smart cards and smart card readers conform to oneor more parts of the ISO 7816 standard.

Because smart cards are well known in the art, the further details ofthe smart card and the specific communication protocols used tocommunicate with the smart card reader CR are not discussed in detailherein. Reference can be made to the extensive smart card literature andthe smart card reader protocol standards for further informationregarding the standard aspects of the implementation and operation ofthe smart card 120.

In a preferred embodiment, the smart card includes a processor coupledto memory and communicates with the card reader CR using a communicationprotocol. In some embodiments, the processor can run variousapplications or portions of applications so that a thin client mayreside in a target device (e.g., a host computer) equipped with a cardreader into which the smart card is inserted. In a preferred embodiment,the smart card can execute the smart card communication protocol, whichis often implemented as a protocol stack. Also, the smart card can runvarious application programs that can each communicate via the cardreader with a target device (or host application) using the protocolstack. In some embodiments, the smart card can advantageously beconfigured with a true operating system, and a memory management andprotection unit such as that employed in Infineon's SLE 66CX642P smartcard.

Also included in the system 100 is an optional network server 130.Depending on the embodiment, the network server may be connected to thePSTN 105, the packet network 110, or to both. In practice, the networkserver 130 may be implemented as one or more physical computerizedserver devices located in one or more geographical areas. The networkserver is discussed in further detail in connection with FIG. 3. Thenetwork server is used to allow the user devices 125-129 to register theevent that the smart card 120 belonging to the particular user has beenplugged into the respective card reader CR. When this event occurs, theuser device performs a registration operation or log-in procedure sothat incoming messages (e.g., telephone calls, or pushed content ingeneral) received for the particular user are redirected to the currentlocation of the particular user, i.e., the user device into whose cardreader the smart card 120 is plugged, and/or a local telephony devicecoupled thereto or integrated thereinto.

As part of the registration or log-in procedure, in some embodiments,the user is given the option of adjusting his/her preferences, settings,configurations, etc., such as, for example, the user's filter settings,announcement/greeting, auto-reply message, contracted or desired levelof QOS (telecommunications quality of service), and/or other parameters.For example, when the user is on vacation the user could change thefilter settings to divert all but the most urgent calls to voice mail,could record an announcement/greeting that informs the diverted callersthat the user is on vacation, and/or could establish an auto-replymessage that informs the recipients thereof that the user is onvacation.

Although not limiting to the present invention, it is preferable thatthe registration or log-in procedure be transacted over a securecommunications channel. In this regard, although the present inventioncontemplates embodiments that do not involve the use of a smart card, inthe presently preferred embodiments, smart cards are advantageouslyutilized to enable establishment of a secure communications channelbetween the target device to which the smart reader is attached (the“client”), and the remote server. Client authentication involvesidentification and validation of a client to a server to establish asecure communications channel. A secure protocol, such as Secure SocketsLayer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS), is typically used inconjunction with a trusted public-key certificate provided by the clientthat identifies the client to the server. The client could be theInternet Explorer running on a Windows platform, and the server could bean Internet Information Server (or some other Web server that supportsSSL/TLS).

The secure session is established using public-key authentication withkey exchange to derive a unique session key that can then be used toensure data integrity and confidentiality throughout the session.Additional authentication can be achieved by mapping the certificate toa user or group account with previously established access-controlprivileges. The smart card enhances the public-key authenticationprocess by serving as a secure store for the private-key material and asa cryptographic engine for performing a digital signature orkey-exchange operation.

In the past, interactive logon has meant the ability to authenticate auser to a network, using a form of shared credential, such as a hashedpassword. Windows 2000 and later versions of the Windows OS supportpublic-key interactive logon, using a X.509 version 3 certificate storedon a smart card along with the private key. Instead of a password, theuser inputs a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to the GraphicalIdentification and Authentication (GINA); the PIN is used toauthenticate the user to the card.

The user's public-key certificate is retrieved from the smart cardthrough a secure process and verified to be valid and from a trustedissuer. During the authentication process, a challenge, based on thepublic key contained in the certificate, is issued to the card to verifythat the card is indeed in possession of and can successfully use thecorresponding private key. After successful verification of thepublic-private key pair, the user's identity contained in thecertificate is used to reference the user object stored in the ActiveDirectory to build a token and return a Ticket-Granting Ticket (TGT) tothe client. Public key logon has been integrated with the Microsoftimplementation of Kerberos version 5 that is compatible with thepublic-key extension specified in the IETF draft RFC-1510.

The smart card also provides the additional advantage that it can beused to send and receive e-mail messages in a secure manner, therebyallowing users to share information confidentially and to trust that theintegrity of the information was maintained during transit. UsingMicrosoft Outlook™ Express or Outlook 98, or subsequent versionsthereof, a user can select a public-key certificate issued by a trustedcertificate authority to use for digitally signing and decrypting securemessages. By publishing the user's certificate to a public directory inthe enterprise or on the Internet, other users within a company or onthe Internet can send encrypted e-mail to the user, and vice-versa.

A smart card (or an equivalent type device as discussed above) adds alevel of integrity to secure e-mail applications because it stores theprivate key on the card, protected by a PIN. In order to compromise theprivate key and send signed e-mail as someone else, someone would haveto obtain the user's smart card and the PIN. The PIN could someday bereplaced with a biometric template of the user's fingerprint, thusenhancing the nonrepudiation aspects of digitally signed e-mail.

Another aspect of the system involves the optional application server135. Depending on the embodiment, the application server may beconnected to the PSTN 105, the packet network 110, or to both.

The application server 135 may be used in different embodiments forvarious reasons. For example, the application server may act as anapplication services provider (ASP) so that the user devices 125-129need not be loaded with all possible applications used by all possibleusers who may insert a smart card into the respective card reader CR.That is, when the smart card 120 is plugged into the respective readerCR, the user device may then load or already have installed thin clientcode, and the application server may run remote application programs forthe user. For example, the application server 135 could include filestorage for the user and thereby act as a virtual laptop or desktopenvironment for the user, holding word processor, calendar, e-mailclient, PIM (Personal Information Manager), and spreadsheet programs aswell as associated word processor, calendar, e-mail client, PIM, andspreadsheet files for the user. In this manner, the user could plughis/her smart card into the card reader CR of one of the user devices125-129 located, for example, in a hotel room, a friend's house, or at aremote office. In any of these cases, the user would see the identicaluser interface and have access to the same set of programs and datafiles as if he/she were at home working on his/her desktop or laptopcomputer. In essence, it is transparent to the user that he/she isactually a guest/visitor on a third-party's computer.

The application server may also be a gateway to a secured intranet, inwhich embodiment, the user could set up a VPN (virtual private network)link to gain access thereto. In such an embodiment, the smart card 120provides authentication and encryption and/or other user-specific dataneeded to set up the VPN link. Similarly, the application server couldserve as a network hub for a VLAN (virtual LAN). In this manner, aremote user who plugs his/her smart card 120 into one of the userdevices 125-129 would appear to be connected to a LAN, as if he/she weredirectly connected into a local Ethernet.

It should be appreciated that the smart card 120 may also functionsimilarly to the application server 135. That is, instead of using theremote application server 135 to execute user applications on behalf ofthe thin client user devices 125-129, a multiple application smart cardcan suitably be employed to perform at least some of the same (orsimilar) functions as the application sever 135 as previously described.

The operation of the system 100 will be described subsequently inconnection with FIGS. 2-4 and a system level discussion to follow thedescription of each of the individual figures.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the user device 129 is shown in greater detail.The user devices 125-128 are implemented similarly to the user device129, except only have a connection to one of the PSTN 105 or the packetnetwork 110, so the discussion of user device 129 is used to explain theoperation of all the user devices 125-129. That is, if certainconnections are omitted from the more general user device 129, then oneof the specific implementations of the user devices 125-128 results.

A first element of the user device 129 is the card reader CR. The cardreader CR, as discussed previously, uses a standard smart card connectorprotocol and a standard smart card communications protocol tocommunicate with the smart card 120 associated with the particular user.The card reader CR is coupled to a controller function 150. Thecontroller function 150 is typically implemented as a software programthat resides in memory and runs on a processor, although otherembodiments, such as embodiments utilizing custom or semi-customsemiconductor circuits, specialized ASICs or FPGAs are contemplated.

The controller function 150 is operative to cause the smart card to beread and to cause various method steps (e.g. 210, 215, 220, 225, 230,and parts of 235, 240 of FIG. 4) to be executed. In general, themajority of the actions, procedures, and functions described herein thatare performed by the user device 129 are orchestrated and controlled bythe controller function 150.

The controller function 150 is coupled to a module 155 that includes oneor more protocol functions. For example, one protocol function isimplemented to communicate with the smart card 120 when it is pluggedinto the card reader CR. Another protocol function is used tocommunicate with the network server 130 to register informationcontained on the smart card 120 that has been inserted into the cardreader CR. In some embodiments, the user will also need to enter apassword to cause the user device 129 to enter a mode whereby theregistration protocol is initiated with the network server 130.

Another set of protocols may be present to interface with theapplication programs which may reside on the application server 135and/or the smart card 120 and/or the host or target device (such as acomputer).

Another module, computerized services 160, is also optionally present.This module may provide certain applications, drivers, links to drivers,servlets, and/or applets, and/or a generalized thin client interface toremote applications such as ones that execute on the application server130 and/or the smart card 120 and/or the host or target device. In anaspect of the present invention, some remote applications arepartitioned to execute on three platforms, the user device 129, theremote application server 130, and the smart card 120. In general,various software components pertaining to one or more applications canbe distributed across multiple computing platforms, such as, forexample, one or more remote servers, a local host computer, a smartcard, and other devices that could be coupled to or integrated into oneor more of the other computing platforms. Such distributed softwarecomponents can be mediated locally and/or remotely by one or moremediator modules developed using Microsoft .NET software developmenttools, for example.

Another optional aspect of the invention is to augment the user device129 (or user devices 125-126) with a location services module 162. Thelocation services module 162 provides an indication of the geographicallocation of the user device. In one embodiment, the location servicesdevice is implemented with a GPS receiver or other locationidentification device. In such embodiments, the user device 129 canreport its physical location during a registration process. This way,when the user plugs in his/her smart card or uses a web site basedregistration procedure, so that his/her telephone number, other type ofpush content address, and/or personal preferences are registered asbeing associated with the user device 129, the network server 130 and/orthe application server 135 may know the physical location of the user.This way, for example, if the user makes a 911 call, the system mayensure a local 911 service is able to respond to the call. In prior artsystems, for example, if a user made a 911 call from a VoIP box such asa Vonage™ box, there was no way to connect the call to the appropriate911 service. For example, in the present invention, a Vonage™ type boxwould be equipped with a GPS receiver, and whenever a user plugged thebox into the Internet, the network server 130 would be automaticallynotified of the user's physical location (e.g., physical address and/orGPS coordinates), and would ensure the call is routed to the appropriatelocal 911 service and would provide the 911 service with the physicallocation of the user device from which the 911 call was made.

It should be further noted that the location services module 162 neednot be implemented using a GPS receiver or other location identificationdevice. Other methods would include manual entry. Another method wouldbe for the network server 130 (or any other network server) to keep atable that maps internet addresses to physical addresses. For example, aparticular cable modem subscriber's location would be known by the cablemodem service provider, as would the physical address of a DSL or dialup modem subscriber be known to the service provider providing telephoneaccess. Likewise, a campus intranet could include geographicalconfiguration data in tables. In such cases, buildings and officenumbers would be associated with Internet or LAN addresses. Hence a moregeneral aspect of the present invention is to provide the locationservices module 162 either in the user device (any of the user devices125-129, to include desktop VoIP gateways, etc.) or a device coupledthereto, and/or to include physical location tables at a network serversuch as the server 130 or 135 or the router 190, etc. When the physicallocation mappings are available, local services like 911 can be madeavailable to a VoIP user. Other local services like local telephoneoperators or local directory assistance operators can also be reached bymapping short dialed patterns to local service numbers.

In an alternative type embodiment, the smart card 120 (or equivalentdevice as discussed above) itself carries a GPS or other type oflocation identification device. This way, when the user connects thesmart card 120 to the card reader CR, the user's location information isguaranteed to be available. In such embodiments, the smart card 120causes the appropriate geo-coordinates to be coupled to the network, andall the location based services described herein may be used. Thenetwork needs to be programmed in accordance with the location basedservices aspects of the present invention in order to recognize thesupplied geo-coordinates and to route local calls and provide orderinginformation appropriately.

In another aspect of the invention, a user could use the physicallocation mapping for other reasons than 911 calls. For example, supposethe particular user liked to order pizzas from Dominos™ Pizza. The usercould have a user preference configured to dial the closest Dominos™Pizza. For example, the user could dial “912”, and this would mean “dialthe closest Dominos™ Pizza restaurant.” If a different user also likedPizza, but liked Chicago style deep dish pizza, he/she might use 912 tomean “send my position to a local recommendation service, and ring therecommended best restaurant that delivers deep dish pizza closest to mypresent location.” Of course, if the device 125 also had a GUI, suchservices could be presented in graphical form and the user could have amore sophisticated set of user preferences, to include lists ofdifferent types of local services of interest to the user. This mightinclude the nearest laundry service, a recommended Thai restaurant, arecommended sushi bar, etc. The user could then select a given categoryin his preference list, and cause the phone to be speed dialed to theappropriate local service or merchant, or could connect via the Internetto place an order directly via the GUI. Similarly, the user could getdirections, for example, for getting to the recommended best sushi barin the area from the user device into which the user plugged his smartcard, such as from his/her hotel room, or from a public pay phone withthe smart card service.

In embodiments where the user device, e.g., 129 provides a GUI, thelocation based services may also be used to place orders and interactwith businesses and other individuals. For example, suppose a user is onthe road and cannot give directions to his current location. If a GUI isavailable, the location based service may be used to not only identifythe nearest point of presence like a selected Pizza shop, but may alsoallow the user to forward his/her location information to the pizza shopso the pizza shop could deliver the pizza to the user's location. Hencethe present invention allows a user to identify the telephone number orlocal computer contact number of a local service and also to communicatehis/her location to the local service so the local service can dispatchlocal service personnel to the user's location.

This feature is needed in the 911 calls as well. The present inventionallows the local 911 service center to be identified in the outboundcall by taking note of the user's location and routing the call to a POPin the local 911 area, for example. The present invention also allowsthe user's location to be transferred to the 911 service so that anemergency services vehicle can be dispatched to the user's location. Inone embodiment, the user's location information may be transmitted viacomputer communications to identified local 911 service. Alternatively,the communication server 135 may insert into a caller-ID packet a localtelephone number corresponding to telephone at the same physical addressas the user device from which a VoIP 911 call was made. Alternatively,the communication server 135 may insert into a caller-ID packet a set ofgeo-coordinates (e.g., GPS) or other location identifying information(e.g., university campus identifier, building name, and office number)so that the recipient 911 service may identify the location of thecaller. Other embodiments make use of intelligent network signalingprotocols to cause the user's location information to be sent to thelocal 911 service via the intelligent network services provided by thePSTN network.

It is contemplated by one embodiment of the present invention thatfuture 911 service will be augmented to include both incoming phonelines and incoming computer server connections. When a VoIP caller needsto make a 911 call, the user's location information is taken intoaccount as discussed above. The user's location information is then usedto determine the appropriate local 911 service. The network server 130then forwards the call to the local 911 service. In this type ofembodiment, the network server 130 also identifies a server address forthe 911 service. The network server (or the application server 135) thencauses to be forwarded to the 911 service's server computer informationsuch as the street address of the caller, or the GPS coordinates, or anyother suitable location identifier. In such embodiments, the standardcaller-ID information corresponding to the user's follow-me number maybe forwarded to the 911 service, and the computer communication call tothe 911-server can supply the both the user's follow-me phone number andthe user's physical coordinates. Thus the 911-controlled computer canuse the caller-ID information to associate a particular call with theuser's physical location. This way the dispatcher can send the emergencyvehicle to the proper location without delay. Hence the invention allowsboth the local service to be identified and allows the user's locationto be provided to the local service.

It is also contemplated that the above method of making a call,identifying a local service, forwarding the call to the local service,supplying the caller ID information of the user's follow me number viacaller ID to the local service, and by table look up, identifying anassociated local service server network address then making a separatecomputer communications call to the local service's server and providingthe user's location may be used in commercial applications as well. Forexample, to order a pizza, the user dials 912, connects to his/herdesired type of pizza parlor, orders a pizza, and the pizza parlor hasall the address information it needs to send out the order. This can behelpful in ordering groceries, requesting curriers, etc., from locationswhose physical or street addresses may not be well known to the user dueto mobility concerns, or may more generally be used to help VoIP usersplace orders without the need to give detaile4d directions, etc.

As discussed above, when a user makes a call, his caller ID informationwill typically identify the portable follow-me number from which thecall is made as opposed to the user device 129. This allows a callrecipient to see the user's caller identification as opposed to anunknown pay phone or third party's phone information. In VoIP, this isthe only caller-ID number that is currently available at all. However,in the case of a 911 call or more generally an outbound call where alocal provider will use caller ID or ANI (automatic numberidentification) information to map a user's calling number to a physicallocation, unless the previously discussed technique is applied, this maycause the responding service's computer to become confused. Hence inanother aspect of the invention, the user device, e.g., 129, providesboth the user's follow-me number for standard caller-ID service, butalso provides at least one of the user device 129's caller-ID/ANI data,and/or the location information associated with the user or the userdevice. This added information allows a local receiving entity like a911 service to know the location of the calling party. Extension fieldsin the caller-ID packet protocol are used to carry the information so aseparate call to an associated server is not needed. This technique isalso useful in other applications such as local commercial applicationsas discussed above.

In another embodiment, depending on the dialed number, one of either theuser's follow-me number or the user device's caller ID information orlocation information is provided. For example, when a call is made, theoutgoing number is compared to stored numbers in a table. If theoutgoing number matches a table entry, the caller-ID/ANI data of theuser device (e.g., 129) is provided. For example, the 911 or 912 numberswould be stored to provide the local caller ID data. All other callswould use the caller ID information of the follow-me number. In anoptional embodiment of this aspect of the invention, the user'sgeo-coordinates are transferred in a caller-ID packet, eitheradditionally, or in lieu of the local telephone number of the userdevice (e.g., 129). The table is used to determine whether the caller-IDinformation should provide the user's follow-me number or otherinformation used to allow the call-receiving party to know the caller'sphysical location.

Hence the location services module 162, a geo-locator on the smart card120, or a physical location mapping table allows the user to configuregeneral user preferences for local services. Depending on where the userhas plugged in his/her smart card or otherwise registered via a web sitethat holds his/her preferences, the system will recognize the user'scurrent location and will associate any subset of user preferences thatinvolve local physical points of service to local merchants, 911service, and the like. In such embodiments, an aspect of the inventionis a recommendation service that provides recommendations of the bestlocal merchants, although it is also contemplated that merchants mightpay a fee to receive a higher place in the recommendation list, as aform of advertising.

In an exemplary embodiment, the user device 129 executes a standard thinclient interface, the application server 130 implements, for example,file storage and some of the more memory/computationally intensivefunctions of the application, and the smart card 120 implements userinterface functions so that the bulk of keystroke and mouse clickinginteractions are processed locally, and network interactions with theapplication server 135 are needed less frequently and can be handled inlarger bulk transfers. In other embodiments, the user device 129 runsthin client software, the application server 130 performs applicationand data processing, and the smart card performs certain subtasks onhighly sensitive data to which the server 130 is not granted access.This is another example of how an application program on a smart cardand a remote application program running on the application server 130can work together with a thin client to jointly execute an applicationlevel task.

Another module on the user device 129 is the optional GUI 165. The GUI165 is typically used in embodiments in which data and/or applicationservices (D/AS) are provided or in which a smart phone user interface isprovided to enable access to such features or functions as automaticdialing from an address list, as is common with cellular telephones. TheGUI provides the user with a means to interact with the user device 129and can include a Windows style interface, a mouse, a touch-screen, etc.In a preferred embodiment, the GUI is customized in accordance with theparticular user's configurations, preferences, settings, and selectionsof application programs. That is, when the particular user plugs inhis/her smart card 120, the GUI is customized to present a desktopinterface to the user that is consistent with all customizations andconfigurations made by the user previously, to thereby present the userwith a seamless, personalized user interface.

The user's loaded programs will be accessible via the GUI, all theuser's desktop shortcuts will be available, and other user preferences,key mappings, natural language, menu bars and the like will beconfigured in accordance with the user's previously establishedsettings. To support telephony applications, the user's active call listis preferably made available so the user can select stored contact namesinstead of having to remember and dial telephone numbers. Similaraddress information such as email address books and instant messagingbuddy lists can also be loaded from the smart card 120 and madeavailable to individual applications in the user device 129, dependingon the embodiment.

Another use of the smart card is to configure device drivers and otherlower level drivers under the control of an operating system running onany the user devices 125-129. For example, consider the user device 129.Suppose the user has a digital video camera or some other type ofspecialized equipment. Typically, when the user buys such equipment,he/she inserts a CD into his/her computer to load any applicationprograms needed to interface with the equipment, but also may load a setof device drivers to interact with the equipment. Often, the exact setof device drivers loaded depends on the computer into which they arebeing loaded. For example, different drivers may be needed depending onwhether the machine runs an operating system such as Windows™, Linux™,Solaris™, or Macintosh™. In some cases different drivers may be neededfor different versions of an operating system, for example, Windows 98™or Windows XP™. Also, certain machines running Windows may use differentdrivers depending on the processor used, or other items like graphicschip sets and the like.

In prior art systems, either a user needs to load a set of devicedrivers from a disk, or else a wizard indicates that an unrecognizeddevice has been inserted (e.g., hot plugged), and asks the user ifhe/she would like to load the appropriate drivers from the Internet. Insuch a case, the appropriate drivers for the given machine are loaded tosupport the new device which has been plugged into the machine. Inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention, the user'sspecialized device information is stored on the smart card 120. When thesmart card is inserted into or otherwise coupled to a device like theuser device 129, the appropriate drivers are automatically loaded, or,when the unrecognized device is inserted into the user device 129 (e.g.,USB hot plugged into the user device 129), the appropriate drivers areautomatically loaded for the specialized device to match the particularsystem configuration of the user device 129. In embodiments where a userdoes not carry a smart card, but logs into a web site that holds all theuser configuration and mobility information in a database, the samefunctionality may be implemented in accordance with the presentinvention as well.

Another component of the user device 129 is the network communicationsgateway 170. In the user device 129, the network communications gateway170 preferably comprises an RJ-45 connector to an Ethernet, a wirelessLAN connector such as an 802.11 protocol connector (e.g., 802.11(a), (b)and/or (g)), or some other type of network connector (e.g., a T1telephone line) for coupling to the packet network 110. Typically thepacket network 110 is the Internet or is a network such as amobile/wireless packet data network that is coupled, sometimesindirectly, to the Internet. Another connector present in the userdevice 129 is a connection to a PSTN 105, and this may include an RJ-11connector, a T1 line interface connector, an ISDN line connector, awireless cellular subscriber air interface connector, etc. The userdevices 125, 126 include the connection to the packet network 110, butnot the additional connection to the PSTN. Such user devices 125, 126may still include the RJ-11 connector, however, not for plugging intothe PSTN 105, but rather, for plugging into an external standardtelephone. The user devices 127, 128 include the connector to the PSTN105 but lack the connector to the packet network 110 (e.g., Internet).

An optional component of the user device 129 is telephony audiointerface 175. This can be built directly into the user device 129(e.g., when the user device is a hand-held device like a cell phone),may be a handset or headset attached to the user device 129, or may be,more generally, any type of telephony audio interface including an audioinput means (e.g., a microphone) and an audio output means (e.g., anearpiece or speaker). As discussed previously, in some embodiments, anRJ-11 connector is supplied in order to connect a standard externaltelephone to be used as the audio interface. In such embodiments, theaudio interface 175 is typically not present in the user device 129,although this is not limiting to the present invention. The RJ-11 jackcan be used to plug in a standard wireline phone or a base unit of acordless phone, for example. In another embodiment, the user device 129may itself act as a cordless base station and the telephony audiointerface 175 may be implemented as a wireless handset or headset.

It should be appreciated that any of the user devices 125-129 may infact support multiple users. For example, the user device 129 may beimplemented as a multi-station device with replications of the cardreader CR, the GUI 165, and/or the telephony audio interface 175. Insuch embodiments, the network communications gateway might incorporatean RJ-45 connector coupled, for example, to a router, a DSL modem, acable modem, a T1 line coupled to an external router, etc. The telephonyinterface of the network communications gateway 170 would typicallyinclude a DID (direct inward dial) line such as a T1 line so thatindividual stations would appear as extensions to a PBX-like multi-usertelephony interface. All such single user and multi-user embodiments arecontemplated by FIG. 2.

The user device 129 may be used in various types of configurations. Forexample, consider a stand-alone smart pay phone (single-user embodiment)or a bay of smart pay phones (multi-user embodiment) such as would befound at an airport or other public place. Realizing that both types ofembodiments are contemplated, for clarity, but without loss ofgenerality, the following discussion focuses on a single user smart payphone embodiment. In such an embodiment, the particular user walks up tothe smart pay phone and inserts the smart card 120 into the card readerCR. At this time, the protocol control function 155 implements a smartcard communications protocol in order to communicate with the smart card120. The smart card 120 passes a set of data such as user authenticationdata, encryption codes, user configuration data, applicationpreferences, and a set of telephony services account identificationinformation and possibly application services account information to theuser device 129 (in this case, a single-user smart pay phone). Thecontroller then performs any needed local registration and presents acustomized GUI to the user. It should be appreciated that the customizedGUI is an optional feature of the present invention, and further, thatonly one of or both of D/AS or telephony services may be provided in aspecific embodiment.

Next, the user device 129 preferably uses the connection to the packetnetwork 110 and/or the connection to the PSTN 105 in order to registerwith the network server 130. In this type of optional embodiment, thenetwork server, as discussed in further detail in connection with FIG.3, causes incoming communications such as pushed messages and incomingtelephone calls directed to the particular user to be redirected to theuser device 129. If applicable, the protocol control function 155 alsocauses the user device 129 to register with the application server 135.Once registered, the user can interact with his/her standard GUI andaccess his/her application programs and data using his/her ownuser-customized desktop interface and user-customized applicationprogram configuration settings and preferences. Moreover, the user canplace outbound telephone calls and have the calls billed to his/hernormal telecommunications services account. The user can also receiveincoming calls that acquaintances and associates place to his/hertelephone number. For example, if the user is in a hotel room in NewJersey, and a friend dials his/her follow-me telephone number in the 305area code, the call is received at POP #1 but is redirected across thePSTN 105 or the packet network 110 (depending on the embodiment) to theuser device 129. If the next day, the user travels back to Costa Ricaand stops in the Miami airport, when he/she now inserts the smart card120 into a user station in multi-user bay 129 of telephone stations,he/she can again receive incoming calls, use his/her computerapplications, and/or make outgoing calls, having them billed to his/hernormal telecommunication services account. The user device in theairport may also add a charge for using the user device 129 supplied bythe airport. This charge would preferably be billed directly to the sameuser account used to support the rest of the telecommunication servicesto the user provided by the system 100, and/or paid for using a creditcard and/or “electronic cash” which could also be resident on the smartcard.

The user devices 125, 126 operate similarly to the user device 129. Forexample, the user device 125 can provide or include some or all of thefeatures discussed above; however, because the connection to the PSTN105 is not present, all calls in this particular embodiment are receivedvia the packet network 110 (e.g., the Internet). In such an embodiment,the network communication gateway 170 includes a VoIP gateway to enablethe user to make telephone calls as though connected to the PSTN, i.e.,the incoming call at POP #1 is routed across the packet network 110 andcauses the telephony audio interface 175 to ring to signal the presenceof an incoming call. Optionally, if an external standard telephone isplugged into a local RJ-11 jack, the standard external telephone willring and the particular user will be able to communicate (preferably,both inbound and outbound calls) using the standard external telephoneas if connected to the PSTN 105.

The aforementioned embodiment of the user devices 125, 126 isparticularly advantageous because a standard user device like a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, a workstation, or a desktop VoIP gateway(such as supplied by Vonage, Inc.) can be designed to include anintegrated smart and/or media card reader CR. For example, suppose userA owns a laptop computer that is plugged into the Internet via a DSLconnection or via a cable modem connection using an RJ-45 cable. Nowassume the particular user wishes to borrow user A's computer. To do so,he/she inserts his/her smart card 120 (or couples some other supportedcard format, wireless PDA, smart cell phone, etc.) into the integratedcard reader CR, and user A's laptop becomes configured and customized asthough it belonged to the particular user. In other words, user A'slaptop is instantly personalized to the particular user who is borrowingit.

Likewise, suppose user A has a desktop VoIP gateway (“VoIP box”) such assupplied by Vonage™. Suppose user A is in the 703 area code and incomingcalls to user A are received at POP #N. Calls received at POP #Ndirected to user A's phone number then cause the telephony audiointerface 170 of user device 125 to ring. When the particular userinserts his/her smart card into the card reader CR of the user device125, calls received at POP #1 for the particular user now ring throughto the user device 125 instead of (or in addition to) calls for user A.In one particular implementation of this embodiment, user A firstde-registers, and then the particular user registers with the userdevice 125 back to the network server 130. Alternatively, both user Aand user B can both be registered, and an indication of which telephonenumber (and/or person) each incoming call is directed to can bedisplayed on a local display attached to the VoIP box, the user device125, and/or an external display device coupled to the VoIP box and/orthe user device 125. Preferably, if multiple users are receiving callsat the same VoIP box, each user can be assigned a distinctive ringsignal so that the appropriate user can respond to the incoming call bypicking up. Likewise, in another aspect of the present invention, if asingle user can receive calls at a single VoIP box from multiple POPs,(e.g., the particular user can receive calls from both the 305 and 703area codes), then distinctive rings can be programmed for each POP sothe particular user can tell from the ring signal from which area codean incoming call originated.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, rather thanthe various components of the various embodiments discussed herein beinginterconnected or coupled together by wired and/or wireless couplingmeans, these various components, e.g., the VoIP desktop gateway, thecomputer, the smart card and/or media card reader, a local telephonydevice, and/or a broadband network access device (e.g., a DSL or cablemodem and/or computing device incorporating the same) can be integratedinto one or more housings (“boxes”). For example, a single box couldinclude all of the components required to provide “follow-me” VoIPservice at such locations as airports, building lobbies, hotel lobbies,hotel rooms, office facilities (e.g., visitor offices, conference rooms,etc.), train stations, subway stations, bus stations, etc.Alternatively, various ones of these components could be selectivelycombined and/or simply pre-bundled to facilitate easy and inexpensiveinstallation and set-up. In general, much of the infrastructure thatwill be required to proliferate such a “follow-me” VoIP service isalready in place. The additional infrastructure required to deliver thistype of service can be deployed by integrating or combining theadditional components required into one or more of the components thatare already installed in the locations where this type of service wouldbe beneficial, and/or by tightly bundling these components to enablethem to be easily plugged-into or operatively coupled to the existingcomponents that are already in place.

The user devices 127, 128 operate similarly to the user device 129. Forexample, the user device 127 can provide or include some or all of thefeatures discussed above in connection with the user device 129;however, because the connection to the Internet 110 is not present, inthis embodiment, all calls are received via the PSTN 105. The protocolcontrol function 115 also causes the user device to communicate with thenetwork server 130 via the PSTN 105. Such embodiments typically do notinclude a connection to the application server 135, although it ispossible to communicate with the application server 135 via the PSTN105.

In such an embodiment of the user device 128, an incoming call at POP #1is routed across the PSTN 105 and causes the telephony audio interface175 to ring to signal the presence of an incoming call. The user canboth accept incoming calls and make outbound calls. If present, the GUIis preferably customized in accordance with the user's personalpreferences and customizations. In such an embodiment, when the userplugs his/her smart card into a telephony device, he/she commandeers thedevice as if it were his/her own so he/she can accept and placetelephone calls as though he/she were using his/her wireline or cellulartelephone. In such an embodiment, no connection to a packet network suchas the Internet is required, as all communication, to includeregistration, deregistration and other protocol handshaking with thenetwork server (and the application server, if used), occurs over thePSTN 105. In essence, the smart card 120 and any of the user devices127-129 may interact with the PSTN 105 to cause call forwarding to beturned on. This may be done by interacting with nodes (such as serviceaccess points and service control points) of the intelligent network,for example.

While most embodiments discussed herein focus on systems involving thesmart card 120 plugged into the card reader CR, other variations arepossible. In this application, every time it is mentioned that the smartcard 120 is plugged into the card reader CR, it should be recognizedthat in alternative embodiments, the coupling of the smart card to thesmart card reader can instead be achieved via a wireless coupling. Thatis, for example, a laptop with a wireless USB interface, an 802.11wireless LAN interface, a Bluetooth interface, or any other type ofwireless interface, may be used as a lower layer bearer to support thecommunication protocol used by the smart card 120 to communicate withthe card reader CR. With such embodiments, the smart card communicationprotocol is layered over the wireless protocol of choice. The net resultis a user with a wireless or contactless smart card need not physicallyinsert the smart card 120 into the card reader CR for any of the systemsin this application to be implemented or for any of the methodsdiscussed in this application to be carried out.

Another general aspect of the present invention is that additionalembodiments of the invention may be realized by omitting the smart card120, by way of the user instead logging into the network server 130 orthe application server 135 using a network access device or terminal,such as a desktop or laptop computer, or other computerized device,e.g., by entering a set of user authentication data similar to what isstored in the smart card 120 in previously described embodiments. Insuch remote log-in embodiments, the user would enter a user name and apassword via a web site GUI, and the rest of the information that wouldnormally be stored on the smart card 120 would be stored in a databasecollocated with the server 130 or 135 and/or supplied by an applicationinstalled on the computerized device employed by the user to log-in tothe remote network server 130, e.g., a VoIP “follow me” service providerapplication installed on a hotel or corporate facility “guest” computer.

For example, suppose the particular user travels to a hotel, and in thehotel is a computer terminal and a VoIP telephone or gateway. Of course,the VoIP telephone and/or gateway could be integrated into the computerterminal (or, other network access device). The computer terminal andthe VoIP telephone or gateway would take the place of the user device125. In such an embodiment, a single computerized device like the userdevice 125 may be used, or a VoIP desktop unit or box, like a Vonage™desktop gateway, may be co-located on the same LAN as a separatecomputer like a desktop or laptop. In such a system, the computerpreferably includes software (e.g., a software driver) to identify theInternet address of the VoIP desktop gateway, and the user logs into theVoIP service provider web site (network server) and enters his/her username and password and/or other user-specific information required toestablish a communications session between the VoIP desktop gatewayand/or host computer and the remote network server. Preferably, a set oflocal terminal information (e.g., a “terminal cookie”) is automaticallyuploaded to the server 130 or 135 to associate the VoIP desktop gatewaywith the user's account. Hence, for example, when a telephone call isreceived at POP #1 for the user, the local VoIP desktop gateway willcause a local telephone to ring. When the user makes outbound calls, thecalls will be billed to the user's account, if charges apply. Of course,if these “follow me” VoIP services are included in the user's normalmonthly bill for no extra charge, or even if the user is chargedsignificantly less than the tariffs normally charged by hotels,airports, and long-distance carriers for pay or credit card phone calls,then the economic model or business case for such a service is quitecompelling.

The above-described remote log-in procedure may also be used in place ofsmart card registration procedures in any of the other embodiments ofthe present invention that involve the use of smart cards, to therebydispense with the need for smart cards, potentially at the cost of adecreased level of security and quality of service and other benefitsand advantages afforded by smart cards, as discussed above. However, insome applications, it may be found that the benefits and advantagesprovided by the use of smart cards are either minimal or outweighed bythe added convenience and potentially lower infrastructure costrequirements of a “cardless” log-in procedure. For example, any of theembodiments of the present invention that utilize smart card basedregistration protocols may be replaced by a protocol whereby a user logsinto a service provider web site (remote server facility). In theseembodiments, a server side database is optionally used to storeuser-specific information (e.g., user-specific billing and accountinformation, user-specific authentication data, and the like) dependingupon the level of access security desired, for example, and local IPaddress information is preferably automatically uploaded to the website, via direct user text entry, via cookies, via a plug-in, via a Javascript and/or via other executable code to transfer data providing theremote server with the Internet address to be used to forward telephonecalls and/or other types of pushed content to the user.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the network server 130 is shown in furtherdetail. The network server 130 includes a network interface 180 that,depending on the embodiment, can include connections to one or both ofthe PSTN 105 and the packet network 110. A registration/deregistrationprotocol engine 182 is operatively coupled to the network interface 180.The registration/deregistration protocol engine 182 is typicallyimplemented as server-side software that runs on one or more processors,although this is not required. The typical hardware architecture of thenetwork server 182 is that of a computer server that includes one ormore processors coupled to memory, to bulk storage (e.g., hard disk),and to one or more I/O devices like the network interface 180. Theregistration/deregistration protocol engine 182 is also operativelycoupled to a user account database 186 and an address mapper 184, bothof which are typically implemented as software processes together withassociated data structures in memory and/or mass storage. In someembodiments the server 130 is also distributed across one or morepossibly geographically dispersed network server platforms.

In operation, a user device, such as user device 125, initiates aregistration protocol. In such an embodiment, one or more data packetsare received at the network interface 180. These packets are generatedafter the particular user has inserted the smart card 120 into the cardreader CR (in embodiments that use a smart card), and possibly after theparticular user has taken a further action like clicking on an iconpresented in the GUI 165 or has entered a user name and password into adialog window.

When the registration packets arrive at the network interface 180, theytypically contain user identification and authentication data,application layer user address information data (such as email address,IP address, push content address, inbound telephone number, and/or amobile IP follow-me wireless or wireline address such as a SIP address),as well as information that tells the network server the network addressof the user device 125-129 that initiated the registration protocol.

When registration occurs, the network server 130 associates theparticular user's D/AS and/or telecommunication services account asrepresented in the database 186 with the physical location of the userdevice 125-129 involved in the registration protocol used to registerthe user's new location. The mapper 184 maps the user accountinformation to the user's current physical location which preferablycorresponds to a physical network address occupied by the particular oneof the user devices 125-129 used by the particular user to register withthe network server 130.

Once registration occurs, the network interface communicates with anetwork router. In some cases a network router 190 may be a part of thenetwork server 130. In general, though, part or all of the networkrouter 190 may be external to the network server 130, and the networkrouter 190 may be implemented using a distributed architecture and mayinvolve route settings in a plurality of physical router devices. Forexample, when the user devices 125, 126 are VoIP based, the networkrouter 190 is coupled to the packet network 110 so that VoIP traffic toand from the particular user's POP can be routed via the packet network110 (e.g., the Internet) to the user device 125 or 126. The networkrouter may be implemented on multiple physical routers that share routertable information and work in concert to route packets from source todestination nodes across the packet network 110. Preferably, routereservations and delay minimization techniques are implemented in therouter and are requested by the network server 130 to insure that timesensitive traffic is more rapidly processed so as provide improvedcommunications quality or to maintain a particular quality of service.

In some embodiments, updated user location information (e.g., city,state, country) could be automatically communicated to thecalling/message sending party, e.g., via auto-reply messaging, SMS, MMS,WAP, IM, or pop-up dialog, depending upon the user's privacy settings.However, in some instances, to maintain privacy and/or to have theirlocation appear transparent to the calling/message sending party, theuser may opt to not have any such updated location informationcommunicated or otherwise made available to the public. On the otherhand, the user could adjust the appropriate filter settings to ensurethat only those parties whom the user desires to be informed of theuser's current location are so notified.

In one exemplary method practiced by the system 100, the user entershis/her smart card into card reader CR, using user device 125, forexample. Illustratively, the user has a follow-me telephone number inthe 305 area code and receives calls via the POP #1. When the userdevice 125 implements a registration protocol with the network server130, the user's account is preferably marked, and the address mappercauses a mapping to be made between the inward dial line correspondingto the particular user, on the one hand, and the physical networkaddress of user device 125, on the other hand. In one type ofembodiment, the network server 130 preferably sends data via the networkinterface 180 to the POP #1 to tell it a new destination address forpackets received at the inward dial telephone line corresponding to theparticular user. Optionally, the network interface is implemented with anetwork device like a router to ensure that the VoIP packet traffictraverses a network path with sufficient bandwidth and a low enoughdelay to achieve a particular minimum voice quality.

If the user device is of the same type as user devices 127, 128, thenthe network router 190 is part of the PSTN, for example, an intelligentnetwork node that causes calls to the particular user's telephone numberto be forwarded via the PSTN to the user device 127 or 128. If the userdevice 129 is used, the network router 190 may be a packet switchedrouter or a circuit switched router, or the routing function may beimplemented using one or more packet and/or circuit switched routers. Insuch embodiments, intelligent network based call forwarding may be used,or the network server 130 may communicate directly with the individualPOP #1, for example, to have the POP #1 redial the new telephone numbercorresponding to the user device 128, for example.

If such an approach is used, an aspect of the present invention is toincorporate ANI-spoofing (automatic number identification spoofing) tocause the caller-ID information that is received at the user device 128to relate to the original caller instead of the POP #1. ANI spoofing canbe performed by forwarding the original caller identificationinformation in a manner in which the telephone network will be trickedinto believing that the call originating number of the POP#1 is theoriginating caller's number. This is typically possible because PBX typeinstallations can now provide per-extension caller ID information to thetelephone network. In this case, instead of providing the caller IDinformation of the extension used to place the outbound call from thePOP #1 to the user device 128, the original caller ID information fromthe caller is provided to the PSTN 105 by the POP #1. In someembodiments, the PSTN need not be “tricked” but intelligent networksoftware is used to allow the originating caller ID information to beforwarded to the final destination.

It should be noted that while FIG. 3 has been described primarily withrespect to telephony services, the same types of registrations and callredirection capabilities can be provided for mobile computingapplications. For example, if a user has a centralized account of anytype, and receives pushed content and/or can push content to otherusers, the same concepts apply. Instead of voice telephone circuits, thesystem passes data messages. In some cases, other media types like videomay be supported, and when multiple media are employed, in some casesthe voice may travel over one type of path and be billed a certain way,and another co-circuit such as video and/or data may traverse a separatetype of path and be billed in another way. Hence, voice and data may becombined, or may be used separately, but the same inventive conceptsapply.

Another aspect of the invention involves routing of VoIP to VoIP callsfrom different VoIP carriers. For example, suppose carrier A isVonage.com and carrier B is Net2Phone.com. Suppose both carriers providetheir own sets of both inbound and outbound VoIP telephone gatewayssimilar to POP #1 to POP #N. Now suppose a Net2Phone caller in CostaRica makes an outbound call to a Vonage™ subscriber who uses the 703area code POP #N. Suppose the Vonage™ subscriber is located in Bonaire,an island off of Venezuela. Normally the call would route from CostaRica to a Net2Phone POP in the 703 area code, and then across the PSTNto the POP #N, and then back down to Bonaire via the Internet, until itreached the desktop VoIP gateway used by the Vonage™ subscriber.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, both of thecarriers, e.g., Net2Phone™ and Vonage™, would deploy their ownrespective network servers 130. Now the registration/deregistrationfunctions 182 of the two respective network servers 155 communicate viatheir respective network interfaces 180. A protocol like a router tableprotocol is used to allow the two carriers to learn the set of telephonenumbers used by subscribers on the other VoIP carrier. Thenceforth, whena phone call is placed by the user in Costa Rica, the Net2Phone™ networkwill recognize the dialed telephone number as a Vonage™ number.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the protocolbetween the two VoIP carriers keeps the other VoIP carrier abreast ofuser locations and movements, so the Net2Phone™ carrier can route thecall directly to the desktop VoIP gateway of the Vonage™ customer, atwhatever location the Vonage™ customer happens to be presently situated.

In another embodiment, when the outbound call is detected, as a part ofcall setup, the Net2Phone™ network server 130 communicates with theVonage™ network server 130 and causes the call to be routed via therouter 190 to the Vonage™ user endpoint device. In either case, the callcan be routed more directly, lowering costs and improving voice qualityfor inter-VoIP carrier calls. In an overall sense, the inventive conceptcould be viewed as loading VoIP telephone numbers into routing tablesand synchronizing routing information between competing carriers toreduce costs and improve quality of the services offered by bothcarriers.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a method 200 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is illustrated in block diagram form. Initially (step205), the particular user plugs the smart card 120 into a card reader CRof a user device such as any of the user devices 125-129 of FIG. 1. Inresponse (step 210), a smart card registration protocol is implementedbetween the smart card 120 and the card reader CR. Optionally (step215), a local GUI is initialized on a user device (e.g., user device125, but could be any of user devices 125-129) associated with the cardreader CR. Optionally (step 220), a network registration protocol isimplemented between the user device 125 and the network server 130.Optionally (step 225), one or more application registration protocolsare implemented between the user device 125 and one or more applicationservers 135.

In embodiments in which the application server is a VPN access point ora VLAN hub, VPN and/or VLAN authentication and encryption exchanges aremade to allow the user device to enter a VPN or VLAN (step 230).

In embodiments involving telephony circuits, multimedia communications,or pushed data messages, an incoming communication is received (step235) for the particular user. This incoming communication may bereceived at a given POP or may be received via a push content server,etc. Based upon the redirection settings, as negotiated between thedevices of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 as per step 225, the incoming communicationof step 235 is redirected to the user device 125-129 into whose cardreader CR the smart card 120 is plugged. In certain preferredembodiments, the user may also place outgoing calls or send outgoingmessages 240. Optionally, when the incoming communication is received(step 235) and/or the outgoing communication is transmitted (step 240)(or an outgoing call is initiated), the user's account is updated (step245) to record the event in the user account database 186, and any perusage charges are charged to the user's D/AS or telecommunicationservices account.

When the user wishes to terminate a D/AS or telecommunication session250, the user either logs out, for example using the GUI, or byextracting the smart card 120 from the card reader. When the session isterminated, subsequent incoming communications intended for theparticular user are not forwarded to the particular user device 125-129that the particular user was using, but instead the communications areeither directed to a default user device (which the user couldre-designate via the GUI) or are collected in, for example, a voice mailaccount, an email account, a push message account, or a multimediamessaging service account, for later retrieval, e.g., at steps 186 or135. As discussed above, in particular embodiments, the smart cardrelated steps of the method 200 can be replaced by a web site with auser login and a user data repository that holds some or all of the sameinformation as may otherwise be maintained on the smart card.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide integrated VoIP,voice messaging and fax messaging. Present systems provide VoIP servicesand allow users to leave voice messages. The voice messages can beretrieved from a secured web site and/or can be forwarded to a user'semail account. However, present VoIP boxes include a second phone to beused for facsimile (“fax”) communications. It is impractical to carry afax machine to receive faxes when traveling. Other services, known asefax services, allow users to receive faxes and to retrieve the faxesvia a secured web site and/or to be forwarded to a user's email account.

In an aspect of the present invention, a single VoIP account is providedthat allows a user to receive VoIP calls and to receive fax messagesusing the efax technique. For example, the user may be provided twoconsecutive telephone numbers, one for voice and the other for fax. Theuser may optionally have a fax machine plugged into a VoIP line for faxover IP, but can also redirect incoming fax calls to an efax typeservice provided as an integrated portion of the VoIP service. In thismanner, missed VoIP calls go to a unified messaging mail box (and/or areforwarded to the user's email address) and faxes are treated the sameway. If a user wishes to receive faxes at a physical fax machine, thisoption may still be provided on a second VoIP line used for fax, but ifthe user is on the road, he/she can cause faxes to be redirected to theefax messaging portion of the VoIP service. In some embodiments, thesecond VoIP line for fax is not provided, but instead an efaxfunctionality is provided to handle faxes. However, an aspect of thepresent invention involves a VoIP provider that allows users to receiveVoIP calls, to receive voice messages at a secured web site and/or viaemail forwarding with a voice mail attachment, and/or to receive faxesvia a secured web site and/or via email forwarding with an image fileattachment (e.g., as a .tif, .gif, .bmp, or .pdf file).

Also, any of the user devices 125-129 can have a fax machinefunctionality built in. In embodiments in which the user devices 125-126are designed with a fax machine built in, the fax machine need not be anordinary fax machine. Instead, the built in fax machine may beconfigured as a scanner and may deliver scanned documents as faxmessages (“e-faxes”), for example, as image file attachments, to arecipient's email address, e.g., in a .gif, .tif, .bmp, or .pdf imagefile format). The device 129 may include both options, i.e., the userdevice 129 may send ordinary faxes via the PSTN to destination faxmachines, or may send scanned images directly to email addresses. Ingeneral, depending on the embodiment, the built-in fax machine can sendfax tones over IP (FoIP), can email scanned images, or in the case ofthe user devices 127-129, may also send faxes over the PSTN. Further,any combination of the above may also be implemented. The userpreferences stored on the smart card may therefore include fax numbersand/or email addresses that can be used to send fax image files. i.e.,e-faxes.

In a similar embodiment, a user is provided with a single VoIP telephonenumber. If the user does not pick up the line, a message is played. Ifthe incoming call is a voice call, the caller can leave a voice message.If the incoming call is a fax call, the service will recognize the faxtones of the calling fax machine and provide an efax messaging service.The user can then retrieve the message from a secure web site and/orhave the voice (e.g. .wav) or fax (e.g., .tif) message forwarded to theuser's email account. In this type of embodiment, if the user picks up acall and hears fax tones, the user can press, for example, the * key,and this will cause the call to be redirected to an efax type service.That is in a preferred embodiment, the VoIP server listens to the callfor the * tone, and if the * tone is detected, the VoIP serverdisconnects the call from the user and redirects the call to an efaxserver of the VoIP service provider's network equipment. The user canthen hang up the phone and later retrieve the fax as a TIF or other typeof image file as discussed above.

Now that the basic invention has been described, specific embodimentsand variations will be described in further detail below.

In one embodiment, the system 100 can be used to provide portabletelephony services, as follows. One or more network servers 130 manage aplurality of subscriber telecommunication service accounts in a database186 associated with a plurality of users. The telecommunication serviceaccounts include an account associated with a particular user who isassigned a follow-me telephone number to receive incoming telephonecalls. The system as a whole includes a plurality of individual usersmart cards. One of the smart cards includes a set of user-specificinformation corresponding to the particular telecommunication serviceaccount associated with the particular user. The system as a wholeincludes a plurality of smart card readers CRs (or, more generally, cardreaders). Each card reader CR is coupled to (or incorporated into) alocal telephony device (e.g., at steps 125-129) that is operative toreceive incoming telephone calls and/or to place outgoing calls. Forexample, when the particular smart card is plugged into a first smartcard reader, telephone calls directed to the particular user's follow-metelephone number are received at a first telephony device, and when theparticular smart card is plugged into a second smart card reader,telephone calls directed to the particular user's follow-me telephonenumber are received at a second telephony device, thus allowing theparticular user to roam to and from different areas, and to plug his/hersmart card 120 into different devices in different localities, and touse different telephony devices as though they were the user's privatewireline or wireless telephone.

The first card reader CR may be located in the particular user's home,and the second telephony device may be a public telephone, for example.Alternatively, the first card reader CR reader may be located in auser's cellular telephone and the second card reader CR may be locatedin a separate country from the country that provides the networkservices for the cellular telephone. The second card reader CR may alsobe provided in a hotel room along with the second telephony device. Thefirst card reader CR may be located in the particular user's home, andthe second card reader CR may located at the user's office or at afriend's house. Either of the telephony devices may be cell phones, PSTNwireline phones, phones connected to PBX internal networks, VoIPgateways connected via RJ-45 connectors to the packet network 110, ordedicated VoIP phones. Again, the card reader CR can optionally beincorporated into the VoIP gateway and/or the telephony device and/or alocal computing device and/or the broadband access device (e.g., cableor DSL modem). For example, the first telephony device may be coupled tothe PSTN via a subscriber line or cellular wireless air interfaceconnection, and the second telephony device may be coupled via a voiceover IP (VoIP) gateway to the Internet.

In preferred embodiments, the local telephony device is configured toplace outbound telephone calls. When the particular smart card 120 isplugged into the first card reader CR, outbound telephone calls placedat the first telephony device are recorded in the particular user'stelecommunication services account and when the particular smart card isplugged into the second smart card reader CR, outbound telephone callsplaced at the second telephony device are also recorded in theparticular user's telecommunication services account (e.g., by a VoIPnetwork/service provider administrator function).

When the smart card 120 is plugged into the first card reader CR, thefirst card reader causes a handshaking protocol to be transacted with atleast one of the one or more network servers 130 in order to registerthe location in the network where the first card reader CR is located,so that the incoming telephone call can be routed to the first telephonydevice. When the smart card is plugged into the second card reader CR,the second card reader causes a handshaking protocol to be transactedwith at least one of the one or more telecommunication servers in orderto register the location in the network where the second card reader CRis located, so that the incoming telephone call can be routed to thesecond telephony device. The smart card 120 may also hold a set of userpreference data that is used to configure a user interface provided bythe telephony device whose card reader CR the smart card 120 is pluggedinto, to thereby enable the associated telephony device to apply a setof user customizations previously configured by the user. In a preferredembodiment, the user preference data is preferably read from a homestation user device that was previously configured by the user so thatthe smart card 120 retains the user preferences programmed into theuser's home station device.

Smart card 120 also preferably holds a set of user filter data that isused to configure a telephony filter that allows incoming calls to beselectively allowed to ring through or to be blocked, forwarded toanother phone number, converted to e-mail and/or diverted to voice mail,as described in detail previously. As discussed above, the user filtersmay also be applied to other types of incoming communications, such asSMS messages, IM messages, MMS messages, email messages, and WAP pushprotocol messages, for example.

In other embodiments, the present invention encompasses a mobilecomputing type of system that provides portable computer services. Withthis type of embodiment, the system incorporates one or more networkservers 130 that manage a plurality of subscriber D/AS service accountsassociated with a respective plurality of particular users. The D/ASservice accounts 186 include a particular user's account. The particularuser is assigned a follow-me address used to receive the aforementionedvarious types of incoming push content or any other form of push contentin general, e.g., broadcast packets from an 802.11 (WiFi) or Bluetoothhotspot.

In some embodiments, the mobile computing version of the system alsoincludes a plurality of smart cards associated with respective users.Each smart card includes a storage medium and, optionally, one or moreapplication programs that execute on an optional processor in the smartcard and/or on a host computing device coupled to a smart card readerCR. The smart card holds a set of user-specific informationcorresponding to an associated particular user's D/AS service account.The system also includes a plurality of smart card reader devices, eachbeing coupled to a local computerized device that is operative toreceive one or more types of incoming push messages. When the particularsmart card is plugged into a first smart card reader CR, push messagesdirected to the particular user's follow-me address are received at afirst computerized device. When the particular smart card is pluggedinto the second smart card reader CR, push messages directed to the sameaddress are received at a second computerized device.

In another type of embodiment, the system 100 is configured to provideportable computer services. In many implementations of this type ofembodiment, the system 100 also includes a plurality of smart cards,each smart card being associated with a corresponding particular user.Each smart card employs a storage medium and optionally includes aprocessor and one or more application programs that reside in thestorage medium and run on the processor in the smart card and/or on ahost computing device coupled to a smart card reader CR. The smart cardsare each configured to provide a set of user-specific informationcorresponding to an associated set customized user interfaceconfiguration data. A particular smart card 120 is configured to provideinformation corresponding to a particular user's customized userpreference and configuration data.

The system 100 includes a plurality of smart card readers CR, each beingcoupled to a local computerized device that is operative to provide acustomized user interface to a user. The plurality of smart card readersincludes a first smart card reader coupled to a first computerizeddevice and a second smart card reader coupled to a second computerizeddevice. When the particular smart card 120 is plugged into the firstsmart card reader CR, a particular customized user interface associatedwith the particular user is presented to the particular user tointerface with a set of one or more application programs on the firstcomputerized device. When the particular smart card 120 is plugged intothe second smart card reader, the particular customized user interfaceis presented to the particular user to interface with the set of one ormore application programs on the second computerized device.

The particular user interface may be used for one or more of a varietyof purposes. One exemplary use of the user interface is to define howinformation downloaded from a remote host computer is converted intoWindows style GUI interface information. This may include a style suchas an applied tiling used with the GUI. Another example is to define aset of desktop settings on a personal computer's GUI or to define aremapping of the keyboard. The particular user interface may also definea set of notification tones to be played (and/or other types of alertsto be triggered) when an incoming message is received. The particularuser interface may also be utilized to define a set of instant messagingaddresses contained in an instant messaging buddy list, an email list,or a set of telephone numbers used in a calling list such as is commonlyused with a cellular telephony device or PDA. The particular userinterface may also define how a set of application program icons andwindows are arranged on a user interface display such as a desktop. Sucha definition typically also defines a set of application programsavailable to the user and also the version numbers of the applicationprograms to be loaded, etc.

In this general type of embodiment, the first and second computerizeddevices are both coupled to a data network which is coupled to one ormore application servers 135. The particular user interface specifieshow a set of application program icons and windows are to be arranged ona user interface display, and, preferably, at least one of theapplication program icons, when activated, launches a function whichautomatically establishes communications with at least one of theapplication servers to make the application program available on theappropriate one of the first and second computerized devices when thesmart card is plugged into the respective smart card reader.

The application servers are typically operated by one or moreapplication service provider (ASP) entities. The particular userinterface then specifies a set of one or more application programs to beloaded from the application server 135 and how a set of applicationprogram icons and windows are to be arranged on a user interface displayand at least one of the application program icons, when activated,launches an application program that has been downloaded from theapplication server. In some embodiments, portions of the applicationprograms may reside on the smart card 120, in which case, theapplication program icon, when activated, causes to be executed at leastsome application program code located on the smart card.

The present invention also contemplates a server side method practicedby the network server 130. The server side method involves firstreceiving, via a network connection, from a computerized device,information identifying a particular telecommunication servicessubscriber. The information is derived by the computerized device via aprotocol handshake between a smart card reader and a smart card insertedtherein by the particular telecommunication services subscriber. Themethod then involves configuring a communication path so that one ormore incoming communications addressed to the particulartelecommunication services subscriber are redirected to a networkaddress associated with the computerized device. Depending on theembodiment, the communication path may be a circuit switchedcommunication path, a packet switched communication path, or a securedvirtual private network path.

The present invention also contemplates a server side method practicedby the network server 130. The server side method involves firstreceiving from a computerized device, via a network connection,information identifying a telecommunication services subscriber. Theinformation is supplied by a user who logs into a web site which isunder the control of the network server 130, using the computerizeddevice. The supplied information may also include a cookie that containslocal information related to the computerized device from which the useris logging into the web page. The computerized device can be the user'sown or a third party's desktop computer, laptop computer, handheldcomputer, PDA, smart phone, network terminal, a VoIP unit implementingfeatures of the present invention, or any other suitable computerizeddevice that enables the user to remotely log-in to a server.

The method then involves configuring a communication path so that one ormore incoming communications addressed to the telecommunication servicessubscriber are redirected to a network address associated with thecomputerized device. This method may be implemented, for example, byclient software that runs on the computerized device and/or serversoftware that runs on the network server 130 and/or one or more otherremote servers. The client software can be pre-installed and/or beembodied as an applet or servlet supplied by the server(s) and/or can beloaded from a portable storage medium, smart card, laptop computer,handheld computer, PDA, smart phone, or any other suitable source.Depending on the embodiment, the communication path may be a circuitswitched communication path, a packet switched communication path, or asecured virtual private network path.

With this “cardless” remote log-in procedure, the user can access dataand/or application services (D/AS) and/or telecommunication services inthe same or similar manner as previously described in connection withother embodiments involving the use of a smart card, media card, orportable storage medium and associated card reader. For example, thecomputerized device can be coupled to or integrated with a wireless orlandline telephony device and/or a VoIP box and/or a networkcommunications device that is in turn coupled via a PSTN, a WAN, MAN,Internet, cellular, or any other type of packet-switched orcircuit-switched network that enables delivery of telecommunicationsand/or data and/or application services, such as e-mail, voice mail,e-faxes, telephony (voice) calls, MMS, SMS, IM, WAP, etc., including the“follow-me” VoIP service of the present invention.

In essence, the user can simply use his/her own or any suitable 3^(rd)party computerized device (as an authorized guest/visitor) to remotelylog-in to the appropriate service provider's network server (e.g., theVoIP service provider's designated server), in order to register(preferably automatically, under program control) the user's currentlocation and forwarding telephone number for “follow-me” VoIP calls tobe forwarded to, and to adjust, as desired, the user's configurations,filters, settings, and/or other parameters, and/or to record a newannouncement/greeting, and/or to program an auto-reply message and/or toupdate any required user-specific information, e.g., accountinformation.

The system of the present invention also encompasses a method of addinga node to virtual private network. The application server 135 receivesvia a network connection from a remote computerized deviceauthentication data identifying a virtual private network subscriber.The information is derived by the computerized device from a protocolhandshake between a smart card reader and a smart card plugged therein.The application server 135 then causes to be configured a virtualprivate network communication path from the server to the firstcomputerized device, so that the first computerized device is added tothe virtual private network and can communicate the server and with anyother devices already connected to the virtual private network

The present invention also encompasses an endpoint user device 125-129that provides portable telecommunication services. Such an endpoint userdevice includes a smart card reader device incorporating a smart cardprotocol function that is operative to perform a smart card protocolhandshake with a smart card plugged therein and to thereby receiveinformation about a particular user's telecommunication servicesaccount. The device also includes a local telephony device that isadapted to be coupled to a telecommunications network to at leastreceive incoming telephone calls. A registration protocol function iscoupled to communicate via a network connection to a centraltelecommunications server. At least partially in response to receivinginformation from the smart card protocol handshake, the registrationprotocol function is operative to perform a registration protocolhandshake with the central telecommunications server to identify to thecentral telecommunications server that the particular subscriber hasregistered its smart card with the endpoint user device. Thenceforth,subsequent incoming telephone calls directed to the portable telephonenumber will be redirected to the local telephony device. Also, aderegistration protocol function performs a deregistration protocolhandshake with the central telecommunications server at a time laterthan the registration protocol handshake, in order to instruct thecentral telecommunication server to cease redirecting calls intended forthe portable telephone number to the local telephony device.

With this endpoint user device, incoming telephone calls to the portabletelephone number that are received after the registration protocolhandshake but before the deregistration protocol handshake areredirected to the telephony device. Preferably, the smart card comprisesa storage medium including an application program. The applicationprogram is configured to provide a set of information corresponding toan associated telecommunication service account.

Another aspect of the invention is the use of a smart card to enable theprovisioning of portable telecommunication services. The smart cardpreferably includes a storage medium that stores user-specific data,such as a user authentication code, a private encryption key, apublic-key certificate, a password(s), a username, and/or any otherinformation associated with a user telecommunications servicesaccount(s) and/or any other information required to enable provisioningof the desired data and/or application and/or telecommunicationsservices. The smart card also includes a communications interface fortransferring at least selected portions of the user-specific data (e.g.,user authentication and account information) via a card reader to a hostdevice (e.g., a computer connected to the Internet) that iscommunicatively coupled with a remote server(s) for implementing one ormore of the methods of the present invention. In some embodiments, thecard reader is of the contactless or wireless (e.g., RFID) variety,i.e., is implemented as a wireless smart card interface. When the smartcard is plugged into or otherwise wirelessly coupled to a first smartcard reader, telephone calls directed to a follow-me telephone numberassociated with the user's telecommunications services account arereceived at a first telephony device associated with the first cardreader. When the smart card is plugged into or wirelessly coupled to asecond smart card reader, telephone calls directed to the follow-metelephone number are received at a second telephony device associatedwith the second card reader.

The present invention further encompasses a “VoIP pay phone” in which a“public telephone number” is assigned to a pay phone that is coupled toor incorporated into a common housing with a VoIP gateway, to therebyenable any member of the general public, whether or not they have atelecommunications account with a VoIP service provider, to placetelephone calls using any convenient payment method, including, but notlimited to, “electronic cash”, credit card, collect, calling card, coinsand/or any other convenient payment method. In this type of embodimentof a VoIP pay phone, pay phone service can be delivered at asignificantly lower cost than is possible with current “standard payphone” technology. Further, this VoIP pay phone embodiment can suitablybe combined with the previously described “smart card pay phone”embodiment in which a user can insert a smart card (or other suitablemedia) into a smart card reader (or other type of media I/O device) inorder to send and/or receive calls at the pay phone using the user'spersonal VoIP telephone number. In other words, with such a hybrid smartcard/VoIP pay phone embodiment, the pay phone can be used by both peoplewho have a personal VoIP account, and people who do not have a personalVoIP account, either using a smart card or any other convenient paymentmethod.

Additionally, in all embodiments of the present invention in which auser “borrows” or “commandeers” a 3^(rd) party computer or computerizeduser device (“host computer”) in order to implement one or more aspectsor features of the present invention, a file management program canadvantageously be implemented in order to, optionally, accomplish one ormore or any combination of the following: (1) allocate different,password protected user-specific file storage areas for each respectiveuser of the host computer, for securely storing all user files andassociated data generated by the user during each user session in orderto maintain the privacy, security, integrity, and confidentialitythereof (this may have particular utility in situations in which theuser is a regular or frequent visitor to a particular facility, such asa branch office, plant, distribution center, or the like) and/or (2)automatically launch an auto-virus scan before, during, and/or aftereach user session, in order to prevent infection of the host computer byspyware, adware, trojan horses, and/or other viruses present in the dataand/or programs generated, downloaded and/or installed by various usersof the host computer and/or (3) launch an “auto-cleanup” wizard at theend of each user session, e.g., as part of the log-off procedure, inorder to (either automatically or at the user's option, depending on theembodiment) delete (or preferably securely wipe so that no data bitresidues are left on the user device) all files and associated datagenerated by the user during the respective user session, and/or tooptionally transfer all such user-specific files and associated data toa remote storage location (e.g., a Web-based storage space provided bythe user's VoIP and/or D/AS service provider) and/or transfer such filesand data to a local portable storage medium.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific embodiments, numerous other variations, modifications,extensions, and/or alternative embodiments of the various inventiveconcepts disclosed herein which may occur to those skilled in the artwill still fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention.Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention encompassesall such variations, modifications, and embodiments that do not departfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

1. A system for providing portable telecommunication services,comprising: one or more telecommunication servers that manages aplurality of subscriber telecommunication service accounts associatedwith a plurality of users, the telecommunication service accountsincluding a particular telecommunication service account associated witha particular user who is assigned a particular telephone number toreceive incoming telephone calls; a plurality of smart cards, each smartcard associated with a corresponding user, each smart card including astorage medium including an application program, wherein the applicationprogram is configured to provide a set of information corresponding toan associated telecommunication service account, the plurality of smartcards including a particular smart card whose application program isconfigured to provide information corresponding to the particulartelecommunication service account associated with the particular user;and a plurality of smart card reader devices, each being coupled to alocal telephony device that is operative to receive incoming telephonecalls, the plurality of smart card reader devices including a firstsmart card reader device coupled to a first telephony device and asecond smart card reader coupled to a second telephony device; whereinwhen the particular smart card is plugged into the first smart cardreader, telephone calls directed to the particular telephone number arereceived at the first telephony device, and when the particular smartcard is plugged into the second smart card reader, telephone callsdirected to the particular telephone number are received at the secondtelephony device.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the local telephonydevice is also configured to place outbound telephone calls, and whenthe particular smart card is plugged into the first smart card reader,outbound telephone calls placed at the first telephony device arerecorded at particular user's telecommunication services account andwhen the particular smart card is plugged into the second smart cardreader, outbound telephone calls placed at the second telephony deviceare recorded at the particular user's telecommunication servicesaccount.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein when the smart card isplugged into the first smart card reader, the first smart card readercauses a handshaking protocol to be enacted with at least one of the oneor more telecommunication servers in order to register the location onthe network where the particular smart card is plugged so that theincoming telephone call can be routed to the first telecommunicationsdevice.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein when the smart card is pluggedinto the second smart card reader, the second smart card reader causes ahandshaking protocol to be enacted with at least one of the one or moretelecommunication servers in order to register the location on thenetwork where the particular smart card is plugged so that the incomingtelephone call can be routed to the second telecommunications device. 5.The system of claim 1, wherein the smart card also holds a set of userpreference data that is used to configure a user interface provided bythe first telephony device to allow the first telephony device to use aset of user customizations previously configured by the user.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the smart card holds a set of user filterdata that is used to configure a telephony filter that allowsindividually be selectively allowed to ring through be blocked, beforwarded to another phone number, or diverted to voice mail, whereinthe selection is preprogrammed and is based upon matching one or morefilter parameters to the caller-identification data of the incomingcall.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first smart card reader iscoupled to a first voice over IP (VoIP) desktop gateway which is coupledto the first telephony device and the second smart card reader iscoupled to a second VoIP desktop gateway which is coupled to the secondtelephony device.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first telephonydevice is coupled to the PSTN via a subscriber line and the secondtelephony device is coupled via a voice over IP (VoIP) gateway to theInternet.
 9. A system for providing portable computer services,comprising: one or more computer management servers that manages aplurality of subscriber computation service accounts associated with aplurality of users, the computation service accounts including aparticular computation service account associated with a particular userwho is assigned a particular computer address used to receive incomingpush content; a plurality of smart cards, each smart card associatedwith a corresponding user, each smart card including a storage mediumincluding an application program, wherein the application program isconfigured to provide a set of information corresponding to anassociated computation service account, the plurality of smart cardsincluding a particular smart card whose application program isconfigured to provide information corresponding to the particularcomputation service account associated with the particular user; and aplurality of smart card reader devices, each being coupled to a localcomputerized device that is operative to receive incoming push messages,the plurality of smart card reader devices including a first smart cardreader device coupled to a first computerized device and a second smartcard reader coupled to a second computerized device; wherein when theparticular smart card is plugged into the first smart card reader, pushmessages directed to the particular computer address are received at thefirst computerized device, and when the particular smart card is pluggedinto the second smart card reader, push messages directed to theparticular computer address are received at the second computerizeddevice.
 10. A system for providing portable computer services,comprising: a plurality of smart cards, each smart card associated witha corresponding user, each smart card including a storage mediumincluding an application program, wherein the application program isconfigured to provide a set of information corresponding to a anassociated set customized user interface configuration data, theplurality of smart cards including a particular smart card whoseapplication program is configured to provide information correspondingto the particular user's customized user interface configuration data; aplurality of smart card reader devices, each being coupled to a localcomputerized device that is operative to provide a customized userinterface to a user, the plurality of smart card reader devicesincluding a first smart card reader device coupled to a firstcomputerized device and a second smart card reader coupled to a secondcomputerized device; wherein when the particular smart card is pluggedinto the first smart card reader, a particular customized user interfaceassociated with the particular user is presented to the particular userto interface with a set of one or more application programs on the firstcomputerized device, and when the particular smart card is plugged intothe second smart card reader, the particular customized user interfaceis presented to the particular user to interface with the set of one ormore application programs on second computerized device.
 12. The systemof claim 10, wherein the particular user interface defines how greenscreens downloaded from a remote host computer are converted intoWindows style GUI interfaces.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein theparticular user interface defines a set of desktop settings on apersonal computer.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the particularuser interface defines a remapping of the keyboard.
 15. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the particular user interface defines a set ofnotification tones to be played when an incoming message is received.16. The system of claim 10, wherein the particular user interfaceincludes asset of telephone numbers used in a calling list.
 17. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the particular user interface defines how aset of application program icons and windows are arranged on a userinterface display surface and wherein the particular user interfacedefines a set of application programs to be made available to the user.18. The system of claim 10, wherein the first and second computerizeddevices are both coupled to a data network, and to the data network iscoupled one or more application servers operated by application serviceprovider entities, and the particular user interface specifies a set ofone or more application programs to be loaded from the applicationserver and how a set of application program icons and windows are to bearranged on a user interface display surface and at least one of theapplication program icons, when activated, launched an applicationprogram that has been downloaded from the application server.
 19. Aserver side method, comprising: receiving via a network connection froma computerized device information identifying a telecommunicationservices subscriber, wherein the information is derived by thecomputerized device from a protocol handshake between a smart cardreader and a smart card plugged therein; configuring a communicationpath so that one or more incoming communications addressed to thetelecommunication services subscriber are redirected to a networkaddress associated with the computerized device.
 20. An endpoint devicefor providing portable telecommunication services, comprising: a smartcard reader device comprising a smart card protocol function that isoperative to perform a smart card protocol handshake with a smart cardplugged therein and to thereby receive information about a particularuser's telecommunication services account; a local telephony device thatis adapted to be coupled to a telecommunications network to at leastreceive incoming telephone calls; a registration protocol function thatis coupled to communicate via a network connection to a centraltelecommunications server and, in at least partially in response toreceiving information from the smart card protocol handshake, isoperative to perform a registration protocol handshake with the centraltelecommunications server to identify to the central telecommunicationsserver that the particular subscriber has registered its smart card withthe endpoint device, and therefore, that subsequent incoming telephonecalls directed to the portable telephone number are to be redirected tothe local telephony device; a deregistration protocol function thatperforms a deregistration protocol handshake with the centraltelecommunications server at a time later than the registration protocolhandshake occurs in order indicate to the central telecommunicationserver to cease to redirect calls to the portable telephone number tothe local telephony device; whereby incoming telephone calls to theportable telephone number that are received after the registrationprotocol handshake but before the deregistration protocol handshake areredirected to the telephony device.
 21. A smart card for providingportable telecommunication services, comprising: a storage medium thatcomprises: a user authentication code and information associated with auser telecommunications services account; a smart card protocolinterface configured to transfer at least the user authentication codeand the information to a card reader; wherein when the smart card isplugged into a first smart card reader, telephone calls directed to afollow-me telephone number associated with the user telecommunicationsservices account are received at a first telephony device associatedwith the first card reader, and when the smart card is plugged into asecond smart card reader, telephone calls directed to the follow-metelephone number are received at a second telephony device associatedwith the second card reader.